Apparatus for raising liquids



March 5, 1940. v P. c. NbRMAN Er AL I 2,192,480

APPARATUS FOR RAISING LIQUIDS Filed Jan. 13, 1938 l6 l6 2O l 9 2O 9 l4 J l4 J l7 Am I I J v LIFT 8 J l8 5 W l3 5 a- J v MECHANICRL PUMP INVENTOR.

' PEARL c NORMAN ,r 2 BY KENNETH c. NORMAN Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR RAISING LIQUIDS Pearl 0. Norman and Kenneth 0. Norman,

Oklahoma City, Okla., assignors to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Application January 13, 1938, Serial No. 185,314 3'Claims. (Cl. 103-10) This invention relates to submergible pumps and gas lift producing operations in the method of raising liquids from underground wells.

In producing liquids from underground wells, particularly in the producing of oil wells, the submergible electrical centrifugal pump has played a very important part since its perfection. The pump is lowered within the casing until it is immersed within the liquid. A conductor of electricity goes from the ground surface to the pump in the well hole bottom to supply current to the pump motor and the liquid is forced to the surface of the ground through a tubing string connected to the pump outlet and within the casing.

This type Pump gives very efflcient and economical operation. The pump will operate at a constant high speed and the'size of the pump will be determined by the quantity of fluid and the height it is to be lifted. If it should occur that the well starts producing water along with the oil or the volume should be increased for any purpose, it may be economically unsound to continue operating the submergible pump or to replace it with a larger sized pump.

By this invention it has been found economically possible to continue operation of the pump when the well starts producing water in great quantities with the oil or to increase the volume of liquid from the well for any purpose. By the.

means here disclosed, the production from the well is increased by using the pump to force the I liquid half way up the tubing column and by gas lifting the liquid the remaining distance to the surface of the ground. y Since the pump was designed to force a certain quantity to the ground surface, now that it is only required to force it half way, half the load is taken off the pump which in turn will increase the amount of liquid it will deliver to the half way'point in the tubing string. The equipment has thus been made to handle a greater quantity of liquid without the expense of pulling the tubing and pump from the well to place a larger pump in the well hole.

While the submergible electrical .centrifugal pump has been used as an example in this discussion, it is to be understood the invention is not limited to this type pump but may be employed with any submergible pumping unit. It is also to be noted that a change canbe made from combination pumping and gas lift back to straight pumping without the necessity of pull-- ing the tubing and pump from the well.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for raising liquids from an underground well.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means whereby the producing operation of an underground well may be changei from 'one of straight pumping to one of combination.

pumping and gas lift or'vice versa.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a means whereby the producing operation of an underground well may be changed from one of straight pumping, to one of combination pumping and gas lift or vice versa, without the necessity of pulling the tubing and pump from the well.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a means whereby theproducing operation of an underground well may be changed from one of, straight pumping to one of combination pumping and gas'lift or vice versa without the necessity of pulling the tubing and pump a from thewell.

Otherobjects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In.the accompanying drawing, forming apart of this specificatiomand in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same: 4

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical view of a well hole showing the pump in the well and the sliding sleeve means half way up the tubing,

' Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the sliding sleeve in the tubing with the pumping unit forcing the liquid to the surface of the ground, I V Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the-sliding sleeve in the tubing with the pumping unit forcing the liquid half way up the tubing and gaslifting the remaining distance.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a'preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral ldesignates the bottom of the well with the well being lined by casing 2. Mounted within the casing 2 and attached to the tubing 4 is any type of submergible pump 3 for forcing the liquid from the well into the tubing 4 from where it is delivered to the surface of the ground through the tubing 4. Half way up from the bottom of the well is placed a conventional packer 5 between the casing and the tubing. Having thus packed off between the tubing 4 and casing 2, there is a space 6 which provides a conduit from the packer to they surface of the ground connecting with the dising also threading into the packer.

7 charge pipe 1. Above .the packer 5 and within the next section of tubing above it and the lower end has screw threads l3 which screw thread into the packer 5 with the lower section of tub- The tubing section also has spaced openings l4 and I5 through the wall thereof which communicate with the annular space 6.

Mounted to have a sliding fit within the tubing section 9 is the sleeve I6 having piston rings I l to insure a tight fit with the inner wall of the tubing section 9. The travel of the sleeve is limited by the stop shoulders l and II in its movement in the tubing section. A spring I8 in the lower portion of the tubing section 9, keeps the sleeve in its upper position against the stop shoulder II. The lower end of the spring 18 may be supported by a shoulder formed in the section 8 or a pin may extend across the section to support the same. Mounted within the sliding sleeve I6 is a ball check valve H! which allows flow from the bottom of the hole, being lifted from the seat by the pressure of the liquid, but upon pressure being exerted on the ball l9 from above, the ball will seat and not allow any flow downwardly. Openings 20 and 2| are drilled through the wall of the sliding sleeve [6 with one opening above and the other below the check valve l9.

In the operation of the device, Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of parts when the pump at the bottom of the well is being used to force the liquid from the well to the surface of the ground. It will be seen that the spring l8 forces the sleeve upwardly against the stop shoulder H, which in turn keeps the openings |4-20 and l2| out of alignment. The pressureof the liquid will lift the ball l9 from the seat and allow the liquid to pass on to the-surface of the ground through the tubing 4. d

Fig. 3 shows the operation of the sleeve when it has become necessary to change from straight pumping to combination gas lift and pumping.

The pump is shut down, and gas under pressure is turned down the inner tubing 4. The pressure of the gas will force the ball valve to seat and the pressure will build up back of the sliding sleeve member, thus forcing the 'sleeve l6. downwardly against the spring until the sleeve seats on the shoulder I0. With the sleeve in this position, the ports "-20 and l52l will align and connect the interior of the tubing 4 with the annular space 6. The liquid being forced from the well by the pump will enter the annular space 6 through the ports l5 and 2|. The gas will bev under a much greater pressure than the liquid coming from the well and will thus function to hold the check valve on the seat, and force the oil to enter the annular space through the openings l5 and 2|. The gas under pressure will enter the annular space 6 through the openings l4 tween the tubing and casing.

3. The combination for producing a well comand 20 and will lift the on the remaining distance to the surface of the ground. If it is desired to change back to straight pumping, the only change necessary is to close 011 the gas under pressure down the inner tubing and the tension of the spring I8 will close the sleeve and the device is again ready to operate as a straight pumping unit.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the inventionor the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. The combination for producing a well comprising a pump in the well hole with the well being cased, tubing within the casing and connecting the pump with the surface of the ground, a sliding sleeve located in a tubing'section at a point below the surface of the ground, a packer between the casing and tubing below the sliding sleeve, a check valve in said sleeve which allows liquid to pass upwardly through the sleeve but closes with downward pressure and said sleeve being actuated by gas under pressure, openings in the tubing section communicating with the space between the casing and tubing above the packer and openings in the sleeve which align with the openings in the tubing section when the sleeve is forced downwardly by gas under pressure from the surface of the ground.

2. The combination for producing a well comprising a pump in the well hole with the well being cased, tubing within'the casing and connecting the pump with the surface of the ground, a sliding sleeve located in a tubing section at a point below the surface of the ground, a packer between the casing and tubingbelow the sliding sleeve, a check valve in said sleeve which allows liquid to pass upwardly through the sleeve but closes with downward pressure, a passage in the sleeve below the check valve, a like passage in the tubing, said sleeve being forced downwardly by gas under pressure from the surface of the ground to bring the passages in the sleeve and tubing into alignment and connect the tubing below the check valve with the annular space be prising a pump in the well hole with the well being cased, tubing within the casing and connecting the pump with the surface of the ground, a sliding sleeve located in a. tubing section at a point below the surface of the ground, a packer between the casing and tubing below the sliding sleeve, a check valve in said sleeve which allows liquid to pass upwardly through the sleeve but closes with downward pressure, passages in the sleeve above and below the check valve, like passages in the tubing, said sleeve being forced downwardly by gas under pressure from thesurface of the ground to bring the passages in the sleeve and tubing into alignment and connect the tubing above and below the check valve with the annular spacebetween the tubing and casing. 

